-Release Info:
Artist : Earth Island
Title : We Must Survive
Label : Synton Archive Productions
Genre : Progressive Rock
Catnum :
URL :
Source : CDDA
Quality : 190kbps 44100kHz Joint Stereo
Size : 46.62MB
Encoder : LAME v3.97 -V2 --vbr-new
-Tracklist:
1. Earth Island - Earth People's Park 3:16
2. Earth Island - Civilization, I Can't Hear A Word 2:17
3. Earth Island - Ride The Universe 3:30
4. Earth Island - Seasons Of Our Lives 2:43
5. Earth Island - This Island Earth 2:33
6. Earth Island - Doomsday Afternoon 2:00
7. Earth Island - Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down 3:07
8. Earth Island - Greatest Adventure Of Our Lives 3:13
9. Earth Island - Peace & Understanding, Toronto 1970 2:37
10. Earth Island - Mother Earth Is A Beautiful Lover 3:44
11. Earth Island - The Hungry Planet 1:51
12. Earth Island - Save Our World, We Must Survive 1:35
32:26 (min)
-Release Notes:
We Must Survive is a sunshine psych gem that I had no prior knowledge about.
The disc seems to date a little past the expiry date of the genre, but the
sounds are definitely the real deal and recall the better moments of Curt
Boettcher's and/or Gary Usher's love fest freak outs. There's a slight nod to
prog here with some of the meatier instrumental parts, and I can't help but
note the strong environmental awareness aspect that crops up here the very same
year as the first Earth Day (I think). In fact, there seems to be a bit of a
concept concerning that topic which ties the whole disc together.
As any good album should do, the opening tracks are winners. "Earth People's
Park" takes a little of Brian Wilson's pocket symphony idea to heart with it's
multiple sections, as does the somewhat harder rocking "Ride the Universe."
Forsaking straight up lead vocals, most of the songs rely on a weave of
harmonies that compare favorably with just about anyone else. The first bump in
the road is probably with "This Island Earth," where the band unfortunately
takes on the opportunity to sing the title in a ludicrously rising chorus. It
might just be that images of the wonderfully cheesy movie of the same name are
filtering through my head. Things get back on track with the ever-so-slightly
morose "Doomsday Afternoon" (I'd expect something a little more hardcore with
that title). Highlights later on the disc include the entertaining hippie
nightmare, "Mother Earth Is a Beautiful Lover," which spins through both waltz
time and a chilled version of a garage rock rave-up. A few of the references to
Tin Pan Alley among the tracks don't really do it for me, but it comes across
better to me than Harper's Bizarre doing similar affectations.
Finding really listenable sunshine pop can be a sometimes harrowing affair as
you wade through endless oceans of saccharine sugar wads. Earth Island manages
that tinge of melancholy that really takes the music to a higher level. It's
not the absolute best in the genre, but I'd wager that it has more to offer
than your average Spanky and Our Gang or Orpheus recording.
-Additional NFO Notes:
Enjoy!